College

Football Saturday: Many teams have an eye on Notre Dame-USC outcome By Joe JulianoMcClatchy Newspapers

The No. 1 sign is lit on the Notre Dame campus, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012, in South Bend, Ind. A tradition linked to Notre Dame becoming the No. 1 football team in the country is the lighting of the sign atop of a former student dormitory on the campus. Notre Dame was last ranked No. 1 in 1993. The NCAA college football team, ranked No. 1 in both polls and by the computer ratings, needs only to beat slumping rival Southern California on Saturday, Nov. 24 in Los Angeles to earn its first trip to the BCS title game. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

If your remote-control trigger finger was in shape last week, you got a chance to watch Kansas State and Oregon go down and throw the BCS standings into chaos. As the new No. 1, Notre Dame can punch its ticket to the BCS championship game with a win Saturday night at Southern California.

But fans of the teams that are ranked second through sixth — Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Oregon and Kansas State — all know the scenarios, starting with a Fighting Irish loss, for how their teams can get one of the coveted top two spots.

Oh, say can you SEC

Of course, folks in the Southeast believe that a Notre Dame loss means a return to normalcy — a chance that two SEC teams will meet for the national championship. Alabama still has to defeat Auburn — a virtual certainty — and Georgia and Florida must win Saturday. The Gators then stand by while the Crimson Tide and the Bulldogs battle for the SEC championship and hope to sneak past the team that loses. Florida is aided by its No. 2 computer rank.

“Playing in the SEC, it’s a playoff every week,” Florida coach Will Muschamp told USA Today. “We have an eight-game playoff to go to the championship game.”

Flip the script

Southern California began the year as the nation’s No. 1 team and boasted the Heisman Trophy favorite, quarterback Matt Barkley. Now, unranked at 7-4 and with Barkley sitting out with a shoulder injury, the Trojans welcome the current No. 1 team, Notre Dame, with the Heisman Trophy favorite (in our eyes) in linebacker Manti Te’o.

What say you, Brian Kelly?

“We get asked all the time, ‘Hey, did you expect to win 11 or 12?’” the Fighting Irish coach said. “We know the unexpected is always out there. If we did what you (reporters) did and did that big picture stuff, it would drive us crazy, too.”

Eye on the Buckeyes

Ohio State is the only other undefeated FBS team but more or less forgotten because NCAA sanctions make the Buckeyes ineligible for postseason play.

But Associated Press voters could still choose them No. 1 if they’re the last unbeaten team standing. Then again, if Ohio State loses to archrival Michigan, most people will forget the wins and focus on the “1” in the loss column.

“Nothing you can control other than getting ready to go play the game,” Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer said. “If it was the first rodeo, I’d be worried about this and that. But you’ve got to move forward and do the best you can.”

A full plate

Rutgers needed to work through distractions this week, from its admittance into the Big Ten to the excitement of possibly clinching the Big East championship Saturday or next week. But coach Kyle Flood said he’s been pleased by his team’s focus in practice and that his players “are in a good place mentally.”

The Scarlet Knights can clinch the Big East with a win at Pittsburgh and a loss by Louisville against Connecticut. If that doesn’t happen, Rutgers can take care of matters itself on Thursday night when it hosts the Cardinals.

Look what I found

With Miami announcing a self-imposed postseason ban because of an NCAA investigation, the winner of the Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division is (drum roll please) Georgia Tech.

Yes, it’s the same team that will enter next week’s ACC title game against Florida State with a .500 record if it loses as expected to Georgia. Losses to the Bulldogs and the Seminoles would leave the Yellow Jackets at 6-7, meaning they would need a waiver to be able to participate in a bowl — something UCLA did last year — for being below .500.

Coastal member North Carolina could tie Tech for first in the division, but also is ineligible for postseason play.

Run and duck

For Oregon to be able to stay in the thick of the BCS title chase, the Ducks have to relocate the offensive mojo they misplaced in last week’s loss to Stanford when they face Oregon State on Saturday.

The Ducks have dominated on the ground in their “Civil War” matchup with the Beavers the last four years, averaging 346 rushing yards a game and 6.6 per carry, according to the Eugene Register-Guard. But the Beavers have allowed just 108.7 yards per game on the ground.

Oregon tailback Kenjon Barner, who rushed for 321 yards against USC, has gained only 131 yards in two games since then while nursing a thumb injury.

Expats of the week

Maybe they’re not local people, but tailback Silas Redd, wide receiver Justin Brown and kicker Anthony Fera, who all left Penn State shortly after the NCAA sanctions, will end up in bowl games.

Redd leads USC in rushing with 740 yards to go with a 5.4-yard average and nine TDs for the Trojans.

Brown is second on Oklahoma with 47 catches, 649 receiving yards and four TD catches, and ranks fourth in FBS with a 16.2-yard average on punt returns.

Fera, who missed Texas’ first four games with a groin injury, is only 2 for 4 on field goal tries with a long of 42 yards.

Follow Us

Post a reader comment

We encourage your feedback and dialog. Please be civil and respectful.If you're witty, to the point and quotable, your reader comments may also be included on the Around the Towns page of The Sunday Republican. Readers must be registered and logged in to post comments on the site. Registration is free. Click Here to register.
A Subscription is not required to post comments only a Registration.